Former University of Kentucky head basketball coach Joe B. Hall photographed on the small Rupp Arena floor in the lobby outside Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., Monday, January 23 2012. Hall will be honored as a "heart hero" at the American Heart Association's Lexington Heart Ball on Feb. 25. Charles Bertram | Staff Herald-Leader

Former University of Kentucky head basketball coach Joe B. Hall photographed on the small Rupp Arena floor in the lobby outside Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., Monday, January 23 2012. Hall will be honored as a "heart hero" at the American Heart Association's Lexington Heart Ball on Feb. 25. Charles Bertram | Staff Herald-Leader

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Hall, now 83, who replaced the legendary Adolph Rupp as UK coach, led the Wildcats to an NCAA championship in 1978. He retired as coach in 1985.

Twelve years later, he had just celebrated his 69th birthday coaching a women's team in Japan. He felt great. Hall returned to the United States and went to Iowa as part of multi-game stint as a color analyst.

The parking lot was a long way back from the arena, and as he walked, Hall felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder.

He stopped walking. The pain went away.

It came back at the airport.

When he got back to Lexington, he went to the doctor for a stress test. The test was halted halfway through.

Hall had a double bypass the next day. He was told later that he had been well on his way to a "widowmaker" heart attack, a full blockage of the left anterior descending coronary artery, considered lethal.

He takes the news that he is a "heart hero" with humor, clutching his heart gleefully.

"That's a heck of a way to be a hero," he said.

The American Heart Association begs to differ. Mike Turner, special events director for the association's Lexington branch, said the organization chose to honor Hall because "he has not just survived heart disease; he has thrived. His daughters recently told me after going through old family photographs in preparing for the ball that they can't believe all he has done and the life he has lived since his surgery.

"He is an example to others and a reminder about how far we have come in the fight against heart disease and stroke."

Kathy Summers of Lexington, one of Hall's daughters, said the trouble with her father is that not only does he still walk most days, he never, ever slows down.

"Oh my gosh, he wears me out," Summers said. "He really loves what he's doing. He loves his radio show. He loves getting out and doing things with his friends."

She said Hall is awaiting the birth of his first great-grandchild.

Always an attentive exerciser and a careful eater, Hall said he didn't change his habits post-surgery. He neither smoked nor drank, "so there wasn't much to change," he said, and he still lifts some weights and does some "light resistance" exercises.

Since the initial surgery, he has had two stents inserted. He also is a diabetic and has had his gallbladder and part of his colon removed.

He is philosophical about his varied ailments, saying that at his age, many of his friends and colleagues deal with the same thing.

"You have to know your body," Hall said. "You have to be aware of the symptoms."

He's also convinced that his faith helped see him through.

"I feel there is a very definite faith that helps your mental outlook, and that helps your physical outlook," he said. "The two go hand in hand."